Food and Movement

Nutrition is an essential part of eating disorder recovery. Our programs are designed individually for each client, whether they are experiencing anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, ARFID, or another form of disordered eating or exercise. Food and nutrition programming at Oliver-Pyatt centers prioritizes meal planning and education to help instill the joy and fulfillment of eating as well as physical health. Some aspects of nutrition programming in our programs include:

• Weekly individual nutrition therapy with registered dietitian
• Pre- and post-meal process groups utilizing OPC’s hunger / fullness scale to increase awareness of internal cues
• Mindful eating to help develop a balanced and sustainable relationship with food
• Weekly cooking groups with staff support
• Graduated return to responsibility for self-nourishment through the introduction of self-portioning and self-regulating

Mindfulness is another core tenet of our programs. In a therapeutic context, mindfulness means focusing one’s awareness on the present moment, while recognizing and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts, and sensations. Mindfulness is used in therapies such as CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) and DBT (Dialectical Behavioral Therapy), as well as in mindful movement and mindful eating programming. Some aspects of mindfulness employed in eating disorder recovery programs at OPC include:

• Deliberately paying attention, non-judgmentally, to what is present mentally, emotionally and physically in each moment
• Being aware of internal cues and motivations, as well as external pressures and realities
• Respecting physical sensations while acknowledging their emotional aspects
• Discovering when your body is satisfied and being aware of how this satiety impacts your ability to function cognitively, emotionally and physically
• Freeing yourself of reacting to habitual patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving
• Unconditional permission to appreciate food and give your body rest when needed
• Honoring your feelings and health
• Making peace with your body

Nutrition programming at Oliver-Pyatt Centers originates from the same core foundations of health, freedom from disordered eating and exercise behaviors, and developmentally appropriate progression toward self-trust and internally-directed eating. With this solid foundation, our clients move through the early stages of food relationship repair to the later stages of growth and expansion into a recovered life. Our HAES-informed nutritional care reflects:

• Recognition that healthy, recovered people come in all shapes and sizes
• Recognition that all bodies deserve to be nourished and experience satiety
• Behavior-focused, rather than weight-focused philosophies
• Awareness that weight loss attempts and focus are contraindicated for recovery from all eating disorder diagnoses
• Kitchens and food environments that are open and accessible as in a homelike setting

Nutrition, mindful movement, and a HAES-informed approach to eating disorder treatment are cornerstones to programming at Oliver-Pyatt Centers. To see more detailed discussions about these and other related topics, you can check out our blog here. Our admission staff is always ready to help you or a loved one begin the journey to a recovered life free of disordered eating and exercise. If you’re ready to get started, please visit our Steps to Admission page and learn what’s involved in treatment at OPC.